Breaking Point
by sweetcaroline
Summary: As Oliver, Miley, and Lilly grew up, they drifted apart, but when tragedy strikes, Oliver and Lilly find their relationship blossoming again.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This is sort of a prologue to the story. Italics are in flashbacks and non-italics is present time. In this story, Miley, Oliver, and Lilly are all seventeen-year-old juniors.

_"I hate that movie," Thirteen-year-old Oliver Oken muttered as the credits of 'A Walk to Remember' began to scroll. "Remind me why I just wasted two hours of my life watching it?"_

_Lilly Truscott, who sat next to him on the couch, laughed and linked her arm through his. "Because you just got to enjoy two hours with the two most amazing girls on the planet!"_

_"Wait, are Amber and Ashley here?"_

_Miley Stewart, the host of this particular movie night, gaped and threw a pillow. "Puh-lease, Oliver," she said from her spot on the floor, "You would kill to spend time with me and Lilly, you would kill yourself if you had to spend time with Amber and Ashley."_

_Oliver rolled his eyes. "I need male friendship."_

_"Oooo," Lilly squealed, "Does Ollie want a boyfriend?"_

_"NO!" Oliver replied quickly, jerking his arm away from Lilly. "I just need to get away from you two more often!"_

_"Oliver," Lilly soothed, nudging him playfully, "I'm just kidding."_

_Oliver responded by flashing Lilly a death glare and crossing his arms across his chest, scooting to the opposite end of the couch._

_"I'm sorry, Oliver!" Lilly said. "I was joking!"_

_"Fine," he sighed, his arms still crossed tightly._

_"Are we friends again?" Lilly questioned, a smile grazing her lips._

_"Nope," Oliver said. Before Lilly could protest, he smacked her across the head with a pillow. "Okay," he smiled. "Now we are." Before he knew it, Lilly had returned the hit and soon Miley had grabbed a pillow and a full on pillow war had begun._

_A few minutes later, the three fell on the floor, laughing hysterically._

_Miley sighed. "Promise me something."_

_"What?" Lilly asked, turning to face her friend._

_"Promise me that the three of us will be friends forever."_

_Lilly smiled. "Well, of course!"_

_"This is so cheesy," Oliver groaned, scratching his head._

_Lilly punched him in the shoulder. "Just do it!"_

_He rubbed his shoulder and reluctantly mumbled a quick "fine" and an "I promise." _

_Miley smiled. "Friends forever."_

_---_

_Fifteen-year-old Lilly glanced impatiently at the clock which read 7:52. "Fifty-two minutes late," she sighed, staring at the coffee table in front of her. She reached out slowly and pushed the popcorn slightly to the left. She had rearranged the DVDs, popcorn, and candy too many times to count._

_Attempting to keep herself from looking at the clock again, her gaze fell to the mirror. Suddenly, she felt ridiculous. She had spent at least an hour getting ready: curling her hair, putting on make-up, picking out the perfect outfit. She had never spent that kind of time getting ready for anything, much less movie night with Oliver, her best friend. But her feelings toward him were beginning to grow stronger and she couldn't help but hope that his feelings were changing in the same way._

_She tucked a frosty blonde hair behind her ear, willing herself not to cry. "He wouldn't have blown me off," she reassured herself. "He's my best friend. Something must have come up."_

_She began to worry. Oliver had never missed a movie night except for the one time he had broken his arm in the seventh grade. "Something must be wrong," she whispered._

_Normally, Lilly would have consulted Miley, but since Miley had been away all summer for a 'Hannah' thing, Lilly had no one to consult. Sighing, she grabbed her jacket and her skateboard and began to make her way towards Oliver's house._

_After completing the short trip, she reluctantly knocked on the door._

_"Lilly!" his mother squealed delightedly as she opened the door. "Oh, hello, dear, how are you?"_

_Lilly smiled. "I'm fine, Mrs. Oken. Is Oliver here?"_

_"Oh, no, dear," Mrs. Oken said, a warm smile plastered on her features. "He's at someone's house… oh, dear, what was her name? Maybe it was… Allison? No, that wasn't it… Amy! No, no, not that. It wasn't Amber…"_

_Lilly gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. "Ashley."_

_Mrs. Oken smiled, "Ashley! Yes, of course! There was some small get-together at Ashley's."_

_Lilly forced a smile. "I should go."_

_"Oh, well, sure, dear," Mrs. Oken said unsurely. "I'll tell Oliver you stopped by."_

_Lilly responded with a fake smile. She angrily began to make her way home, but halfway there, stopped and turned around._

_After what seemed like an eternity, she found herself standing on Ashley's doorstep. For a split-second, she thought about turning around, running home, and crying herself to sleep, but she quickly pushed that thought out of her mind and pressed her finger against the doorbell._

_A few seconds later, Ashley appeared in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" she said, cocking an eyebrow._

_"Where's Oliver?" Lilly asked, crossing her arms across her chest._

_Ashley scoffed. "Did I ask you to come here?"_

_Lilly narrowed her eyes. "No, Ashley, you didn't. And, I hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not here to beg your acceptance and hope that I can hang out with you. I'm here to talk to Oliver."_

_Ashley eyed Lilly before smiling and replying, "No."_

_"Who was at the door?" a voice came from behind Ashley. Lilly knew who it was._

_"It's me, Oliver," she said._

_Oliver poked his head around Ashley. "Lilly? What are you doing here?"_

_"We need to talk."_

_"Um… can it wait?"_

_"No, Oliver, no it can't."_

_"I'll be right back," Oliver said to Ashley, as he stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind him. "What?" he hissed._

_"You're mad at me?!" Lilly shrieked, throwing her hands into the air. "Oliver Oscar Oken, you have no right to be mad at me."_

_"What's your problem, Lilly?" Oliver asked in a hostile tone._

_"My 'problem' Oliver is that I sat at home for an hour waiting for you to show up!"_

_Oliver looked confused for a moment, but suddenly his face fell. "Movie night," he murmured._

_"Yes, movie night," Lilly seethed. "And I was worried sick! I thought you were dead or something!"_

_"I'm sorry, Lil, but its not that big of a deal!"_

_"Yes it is, Oliver! The only other time you've ever missed movie night is when you broke your arm in seventh grade! What was I supposed to think?"_

_"That I had something else to do…"_

_Lilly sighed. "This isn't you."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"This-" she gestured around her. "You're not the type of guy who would completely blow off his best friend to hang out with the most superficial girl on the face of the planet!"_

_"Don't talk about her that way!"_

_"What, do you like her, or something?"_

_He nodded. "I do, Lilly. I like her. And you wanna know what else? She likes me, too."_

_"You like her popularity, Oliver," Lilly whispered, turning around so that her back was facing him._

_"What did you want me to do, Lils?" Oliver sighed, scratching his head exhaustedly. "She called and invited me over."_

_Lilly turned around and met his gaze, tears forming in her eyes. "You did what I wanted you to do, Oliver," she said. "You made a choice." She stepped down the stairs to the sidewalk before turning around and adding, "I'm just disappointed in the one you made."_

_---_

_A year later, sixteen-year-old Miley Stewart sat on her bed, absentmindedly strumming her guitar. _

_Miley and Oliver were no longer friends. When she returned from her tour the summer before, Miley instantly sided with Lilly while Oliver moved onto Amber and Ashley's crowd. _

_Miley sighed and glanced at a picture of her, Lilly, and Oliver, from their fifth grade graduation. "Friends forever," she said sarcastically, as her cellphone began to ring. _

_"Hello?" she said._

_"Hey, its me," Lilly's voice came from the other end. "I'm just calling to make sure you're coming to my competition tonight."_

_Miley cringed. She had forgotten all about the competition and had made plans with Jake._

_"Miley?" Lilly said. "You are coming, aren't you?"_

_"Um…" Miley hesitated. "I'm sorry, Lilly, I totally forgot and made plans with Jake. I'll see if he wants to swing by, though."_

_Lilly sighed. "Don't worry about it."_

_There was a long silence._

_"Are you coming to my concert on Saturday?" Miley asked, drumming her fingers on the guitar in her lap._

_"Is Jake going to be there?"_

_Miley sighed. "Yes."_

_"I've got plans."_

_"Oh, um, okay."_

_There was another long silence before Miley said, "I should probably go."_

_"Yeah, me too."_

_---_

She had always hated Wednesdays.

"Seriously," she would say over and over, "What's good about a Wednesday? On Monday and Tuesday you're close to the past weekend. On Thursday and Friday you're close to the next weekend. And on Wednesday, you're right in the middle."

She was convinced that Wednesdays were created by God only to spite her. "I think they should just get over it and call it 'Wehatelillytruscottday,'" she'd once said.

As seventeen-year-old Lilly Truscott awoke on that fateful Wednesday morning, she knew that this Wednesday was going to be no different than the awful ones in the past. She opened her eyes and peered at her alarm clock. "10:28," she mumbled, reading off the numbers. The time settled into her head and she then realized that school had started two and a half hours ago.

"Damn it," she yelled, bolting out of bed. Grumbling something about 'Wednesdays' and the 'spawn of Satin', she pulled a clean t-shirt over her head, threw on a blue jean skirt she found laying on the floor, grabbed a granola bar, and grabbed her backpack before sprinting to the garage.

"Bye!" she yelled as she stepped out of the house. It wasn't like it mattered, anyway. The Truscotts were rarely home: they were constantly on business trips or at cocktail parties. They had been at a charity event the night before and Lilly wasn't even sure if they had come home afterward.

Sighing, she locked the door and hopped into her car. Turning the key in the ignition, she flew out of the garage and headed toward school. She groaned when Hannah Montana's new single came blaring through her speakers. "Can't they play a different song? Just once, I'd like to hear something else!"

Suddenly, however, the song was cut short. "We're sorry to interrupt, but we've just received some breaking news." Though Lilly had parked and was getting ready to exit her car, she was intrigued and instead opted to turn up the volume slightly. "We have just been informed that teen sensation Hannah Montana-" Lilly groaned when she heard the news was about Hannah. It seemed _everything _was about Hannah. Sighing she reached for the keys as the radio announcer finished, "Was killed in a plane crash early this morning. Her father and longtime friend Jackson were also killed in the crash."

"Oh my god," Lilly whispered, her hands trembling. "Oh my god."

**A/N: **Review, please? (I'll be your best friend!) I'll try to have the next chapter up soon, if you like it.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thanks for all of the positive feedback on the last chapter! I really, really appreciate it! Now, I don't normally update this fast (so don't get used to it) and school starts tomorrow so updates will probably come slower and I'm sorry about that, but please keep reading! Anywho, this chapter starts a couple of hours before where the last chapter left off… and that's kind of confusing, but hopefully you'll follow. Anyways, enough of this… READ!

"Good morning, Malibu! This is everyone's favorite morning radio host, Rocko, speaking and it's time for you lazy kids to get out of bed and start listening to me talk! But, as much as I'd love to talk and talk and talk all morning… this _is _a radio and we _do _need to play some music. So here's Hannah Montana's latest hit!"

Oliver Oken was in a desperate search for the snooze button on his alarm.

"Mmph," he grunted, his hand flailing wildly around the nightstand as Hannah Montana's sugary sweet voice filled the room. He refused to open his eyes and turn the alarm off because then he would be awake and there would be no point for the snooze button. Finally, (he wasn't sure how), Hannah Montana had stopped singing. "Thank you!" he mumbled, rolling over and burying his face into the pillow. "Now, just five more minutes…"

"Good morning, sunshine!" he heard, just as he was falling into a deep, peaceful, and harmonic sleep.

"Why?" he moaned, reluctantly opening one eye to glare at his older sister who was leaning in the doorway.

"Because it's a beautiful Malibu morning and I would sure hate for little Oliver to miss it!" Eighteen-year-old Olivia squealed, walking in the room and sitting on the edge of the bed.

Oliver opened his other eye and peered out the window.

It was storming.

"What a beautiful Malibu morning," he sighed sarcastically, grudgingly tearing the covers away from his body and leaving his comfortable bed. Olivia grinned and pinched his cheek before leaving Oliver alone in his room. Stretching, he reached in his drawer for clean clothes and headed to the bathroom to shower and get ready.

After fifteen minutes, he was ready to go. Grabbing his cell phone, keys, and backpack, he headed down to the kitchen.

"I'm driving," he told his siblings, dangling the keys as he entered the kitchen.

"No way," the other five Oken children echoed simultaneously.

It was times like these that Oliver strongly disliked his big family. They were constantly ganging up on him, especially when it came to girls. Since his sudden popularity rise, Oliver had had at least two girlfriends a month and brining them over to the house was never fun. Especially when Olivia, fourteen-year-olds Otto and Olympia, nine-year-old Omar, and five-year-old Ophelia were all present to share exciting and embarrassing stories from his past.

"Come on," Oliver protested, grabbing a piece of toast from the plate on the table. "I _never _get to drive!"

"Well, that's because you suck at it," Otto stated simply, causing Olympia, Omar, and Olivia to giggle.

Ophelia gasped. "Mommy doesn't like that word, Otto. She says it's the devil's language."

"Shut up, Ophelia!"

"Shut up is the devil's language, too!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"Mommy!"

"Stop!" Oliver yelled, placing his hand over Ophelia's mouth. "Come on, _please_ let me drive!"

"No way, Oliver," Olivia said, taking the keys out of Oliver's hands. "I'm driving."

"I hate this family," Oliver groaned as he followed his siblings to the car.

"Hate is the devil's language, too, Ollie," Ophelia squealed, lacing her fingers with his.

"Sorry," he mumbled, as he slid into the passenger's seat.

---

"Oliver!" he heard several girls squeal as he entered the front doors of Seaview High School. He looked up and smiled as he saw Amber, Ashley, Abigail, and his current girlfriend Ava waving him over.

He pecked Ava on the cheek when he reached them. "What's up, ladies?" he said, causing all of them to giggle.

"Hiiiii, Oliver," Ava squeaked.

He forced a smile.

Truth be told, Oliver pretty much hated Ava. She was whiny, she never stopped talking, she was constantly making fun of people, she couldn't hold a serious conversation to save her life, she was completely and totally stupid, and her voice was so freaking high-pitched! But she was pretty and she was popular and that seemed to be all that the new Oliver cared about.

Sighing, he listened as the four girls droned on and on about Jessica Simpson's latest line of beauty products. He breathed a sigh of relief when the bell rang, signaling the beginning of homeroom.

"See you ladies later," he said, winking as he walked away, mentally thanking god that none of them were in his homeroom.

"Hey Oliver, wait up!" he heard as he made his way down the hall.

"Oh, hey, Jake," Oliver said, turning around to face the teenage star. "No Miley today?"

Unlike most middle school romances, Miley's and Jake's had lasted longer than three weeks. There's, in fact, had lasted for five years. They were completely inseparable.

"Nope, she flew to New York this morning to perform in some charity event," Jake sighed as the two sat down in homeroom.

"What a pathetic existence she leads," Oliver joked before the teacher cleared his throat to call roll.

Oliver zoned out, mumbling a quick 'here' when he heard his name called. He noticed that Lilly was absent, but quickly tried to place all thoughts of her out of his mind.

Oliver missed Lilly like crazy, but like the stubborn boy that he was, he was too proud to apologize or take back his actions that ruined their friendship.

His mother was always saying, "Oh, Oliver, where has Lilly been? She was always such a good friend to you."

And though he hated to admit it, he knew his mother was right. Lilly was a _great _friend. She was funny, smart, fun to be around, and was always willing to drop whatever she was doing to help Oliver if he had needed it. She had never blown Oliver off and had always defended him when the people who were now his friends had once made fun of him. And he had turned around and acted in exactly the opposite manner toward her.

And now she would barely even look at him.

He suddenly snapped out of his reverie when the bell rang, signaling first period. Sighing, he grabbed his backpack and headed to his first class.

Oliver's first five classes went by slowly and agonizingly and when the lunch bell finally rang, he practically skipped from his seat to his locker. His good mood was suddenly gone, however, when he saw Ava waiting for him there.

"I missed youuuuuuuuu!" she squealed, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Hi," he replied stiffly.

"What's wrong, Ollie?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Nothing, I just need to get to my locker." He shrugged her arms off of him and opened his locker, stuffing books in.

"Well, fine," she pouted, crossing her arms across her chest and leaning against the locker next to his.

Rolling his eyes, he shut his locker and began the walk to lunch without speaking a word to Ava.

"Wait up," she whined, coming up beside him and sliding her perfectly manicured hand into his. "You can't run in three hundred dollar shoes."

"Then don't wear three hundred dollar shoes," Oliver suggested.

Ava just stared at him blankly and then burst out laughing. "Right," she said. "And look like what?" She gestured at a small blonde figured who was huddled up against a row of lockers. "Her?"

Oliver snapped his head around and noticed it was Lilly. She sat with her legs pulled close to her body, her hair matted, her cheeks tearstained and blotchy.

"Lilly?" he murmured quietly.

She looked up and saw him and her eyes widened. "Oliver," she breathed softly. Standing up quickly, she shakily rushed to him. "Oliver, thank god, I've been looking for you all morning."

Ava cocked an eyebrow as Lilly unsteadily approached them.

"C-C…Can I t-talk to y-you?" she said in between sobs.

"Go for it," Ava replied, her grip tightening on Oliver's hand.

"I was talking to Oliver," Lilly replied, pulling her jacket tightly around herself.

"You mean, my _boyfriend, _Oliver?"

"Who cares?" Lilly said, letting out another sob. "I just n-need to t-talk to him."

"Ava, go on to lunch, I'll meet you there in a sec," Oliver said, studying Lilly carefully.

"You're not serious, are you?"

"Go," Oliver hissed.

Turning on her heel, Ava stomped away, muttering, "What a freak," under her breath.

"Lil," Oliver said, gently, using a nickname he hadn't used in years. "Lil, what's wrong?"

Lilly threw her arms around Oliver's neck. "Oh, Oliver," she sobbed. "Oliver, why did this have to happen to her?"

Stiffly, Oliver patted her back. He wasn't used to this kind of affection from Lilly. Actually, he wasn't used to _talking _to Lilly. "What do you mean? What happened to who?"

She pulled away from him, wiping her cheeks. "You… you mean you haven't heard?"

He shook his head.

"Hannah… Miley, she's… dead."

**A/N: **A little bit shorter, and slightly uneventful, but I still hope it was good! Again, a humongous thank you to **lilerin91, Spencer-Sweetie, rei-kimura, corybelle, TifferlouLuvsU, **and** Luvs-Mitchel-Musso **for reviewing. It makes me happppppy to get reviews, so review again!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thanks for all of the reviews! I love it! Anywho, several people commented about Jake's POV, which I actually wasn't planning on writing, but I decided to so, the beginning of this chapter is that. The second half is a conversation between Lilly and Oliver. Sorry it's so short! I'll try to update once or twice more this weekend, but I'm not sure how much updating I'll get done during the week! (Oh, how school gets in the way!) Anyway, read on!

"You have 1 unread text message."

Jake Ryan clicked on the flashing envelope and read the message: _good morning! i'm off to ny for charity event, be back tomorrow! i'll call you tonight… love you! –miley_

Grinning, he quickly moved his fingers across the keypad and replied: _hav fun! ttyl love you too, jake_

Sliding his Sidekick back into his pocket, Jake opened the door to Seaview High School and frantically searched for someone to talk to. Ever since he and Miley had started to date, they had pretty much become inseparable. Since they were both away so often and both understood the pressures that celebrities had to face, they basically relied on solely each other for friendship. This did, however, lead to problems when one of them was away and the other was left alone in Malibu.

Eventually, Jake spotted Oliver heading towards their homeroom. "Hey Oliver, wait up!" he yelled, jogging to catch up with the brunette.

"Oh, hey, Jake," Oliver replied, turning around to greet the slightly taller blonde. "No Miley today?"

"Nope," Jake sighed, slinging under his desk, "She flew down to New York this morning to perform in some charity event."

"What a pathetic existence she leads," Oliver chuckled as the teacher cleared his throat to begin roll call.

Jake nodded and flopped on his desk, ready to fall asleep. He did so, and was quite content, until the bell signaling the end of homeroom rang and he was forced to make the long walk next door to Algebra II where he proceeded to fling his backpack under his desk and flop his head down in his arms.

About halfway through the class, a light knock was heard on the door. Jake looked up and saw the principal, Mrs. Patterson, standing in the doorway. The Algebra II teacher directed her in.

"Good morning, class," Mrs. Patterson said with a quick nod.

"Good morning, Mrs. Patterson," the class echoed.

"May I borrow Mr. Ryan?" Mrs. Patterson asked the math teacher who quickly nodded in reply. Mrs. Patterson motioned for Jake to follow her out of the room and Jake did so. As soon as he stepped outside, however, he instantly wished he had remained in the comfort of his desk in the back corner.

"Um… yes?" he said, looking around. His mother, father, and little sister stood outside with Mrs. Patterson. His mother was crying into his father's shoulders and his little sister, Isabella, looked completely horrified. "Is everything okay?" Jake asked unsurely.

"Jake," Mr. William Ryan said, placing his hand upon his son's shoulder. "Jake, there's something we need to tell you."

Jake's stomach instantly dropped. Something awful was coming his way. "What's wrong?" he asked nervously, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Is it grandma?"

"No," William said, placing his arm around his wife's shoulders tightly. "Grandma's fine. It's Miley."

He wasn't expecting this. Not Miley. Something had to be wrong. "Miley's fine!" he said, shaking his head furiously. "She's fine! I just talked to her two hours ago! She's fine!"

"Her plane crashed, Jake," his mother whispered slowly. "There was a malfunction in the engine and it crashed. Robbie Ray and Jackson were with her."

"You're wrong!" Jake yelled, pointing a shaky finger at his family. Tears were clouding his eyes, he could barely see them. "You're wrong! This is just some sick, twisted joke! It's not funny! It's not funny!"

"Jake, calm down," William said soothingly, placing his hands firmly on Jake's shoulders. "We're telling you the truth, son."

Jake wiped his eyes hastily. "But… but she's okay, right? People survive plane crashes all the time, I mean-"

He looked up as his mother shook her head. "Jake," she whispered, "She's gone… they all are."

---

"You… you mean you haven't heard?"

Oliver studied the petite blonde in front of him and shook his head nervously.

"Hannah… Miley, she's… dead."

His eyes widened. He removed his hands from Lilly's shoulders and stumbled backward slightly. Rubbing his temples and closing his eyes as if he was hoping to wake up and find a smiling Miley and Lilly in front of him, he whispered, "Wh-What?"

Lilly wrapped her arms around herself tightly and shook her head. "I just can't believe it," she murmured, her eyes fixed on the floor. "I just can't believe it."

Oliver pressed his back against a wall and slid down, hugging his knees tightly to his body. "What happened?" he asked quietly, cautiously meeting Lilly's gaze.

She shook her head, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "A plane crash," she said. "And what's even worse? Jackson and Mr. Stewart were on the plane too."

"No," Oliver muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "No."

"I know," Lilly sighed shakily, sliding down next to him. "It's just so… wrong."

"Miley was too good."

"They all were," Lilly sniffed. Suddenly, tears were pouring out of her eyes uncontrollably. "They were the nicest people, Oliver. Every time I needed something, even if Miley was gone, Jackson and Mr. Stewart were always there forme. They were amazing, amazing people. And if anyone on this whole earth deserves to die, it should have never been the Stewarts…" she trailed off, pursing her lips and turning her tearstained face toward Oliver's.

With a slight forced smile, Oliver slowly reached his hand out in front of him, brushing the loose blonde hairs out of Lilly's eyes. She sighed and looked down. "You should go," she whispered, wiping her cheeks hastily. "You told Ava you'd meet her at lunch."

Oliver drew his hand back quickly. "Well, I did, but that was before this conversation happened. I don't really feel like this is a good time to ditch you for Ava."

Lilly shook her head, standing up and brushing off her pants. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Lilly, wait," Oliver said, quickly standing up and jogging to catch up with the girl, who was already halfway down the hall. "Please, don't do this now." 

"I'm sorry, Oliver," she said quietly, avoiding Oliver's eyes at all cost.

"Sorry for what?" Oliver replied.

"I'm sorry that I came to you like this," she sighed, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Like what?" Oliver asked exasperatedly. "What are you talking about?"

Reluctantly, Lilly's eyes met his. "What you did hurt me, Oliver," she said. "It hurt me so much that two years later I'm still upset about it. So I'm sorry I came to you when I was distressed like this and let you think that I was over it, because I'm not." She sighed. "All I meant to do was to tell you that the Stewarts were gone. I just… I wanted you to hear that from me and not from the radio or something."

And with that, she was gone.

**A/N: **I hope you liked it! This chapter and the chapter before it were sort of filler chapters and they weren't my best, but I'm hoping they're still okay. Thanks to my reviewers:

**lilerin91: **Thanks so much! I like your stories (even though I'm to lazy to review, maybe I should get around to that:P) so I'm glad you like mine. By the way, I think it's about time you posted a new story. ;)

**Luvs-Mitchel-Musso: **Okay, so this is another case where I'm pretty much in love with your stories, but I haven't gotten around to reviewing them yet. Anyway, I _will _do that, I swear, and in the mean time, thanks so much for reviewing and I'm glad you like it! (And I think Ava is seriously annoying too! I can't wait to get rid of her!)

**ForeverYoursx3: **Sorry it's not a Moliver (I'm definitely more of a Loliver fan, though I like some Molivers, too) but I hope you keep reading it anyway!

**zippitydoodaa321: **That's a really cool idea, but I don't think it will work in with my plans for the story! Thanks for the idea, though! I never thought about that…

**briana35805: **Wow, 12 OMGs! That's seriously amazing! Haha, wow, I'm glad you like it so much!

**ambulanceMURDER: **Totally agree! Oliver's awful! (But it'll get better…)

**PaigeMatthews06, Valx3, Spencer-Sweetie, Cherry-Star23, BrunetteJedi, Forever-charmed14, sarahraichu44: **Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Sorry I didn't update this weekend, but I literally had no time! Anyway, even though this is short, I sort of like this chapter (more than I liked the last one, anyway.) So, read and review, puh-lease.

Lilly slowly raised her eyes in order to fully take in the mansion that sat in front of her.

"I shouldn't be here," she mumbled to no one in particular as she gaped at the beige stucco manor that stood before her. "I should just go." Shoving her hands in the pockets of her jeans, she took a step backward.

"No," she said, moving forward two steps up the front walk. "I should go ring the doorbell. I'm sure he needs someone to talk to." She took another step forward.

"The house is pretty dark," she mumbled, backing up a few paces. "I bet they aren't even home, I mean-"

She stopped herself from her rant. "No!" she said firmly, stomping her foot as if to emphasize her point to herself. "Lilly," she reassured, "You came here for a reason. And you are going to do what you came here to do. Now, march!" And with that she anxiously jogged up the walk and pressed her finger to the doorbell before she had any time to reconsider.

A few moments later, a girl no older than ten opened the door. Her big, chocolaty brown eyes were wide as she murmured, "Hello."

"Oh," Lilly stammered. "Um… hi, I'm-"

"Lilly," the girl finished, with a slight smile. "I know who you are."

"Oh," Lilly murmured, knitting her eyebrows. _Do I know her? _she asked herself, racking her brain for any memories of the girl.

The girl must have read her facial expression because she quickly added, "I saw you in pictures… in Miley's pictures. She talked about you all the time!"

Lilly muttered another 'oh' and forced a slight smile, uncomfortable at the mention of Miley's name.

"I'm Isabella," the girl said, pushing her wire-rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Are you here to see my brother?"

Lilly nodded and Isabella grinned. "Good! He told me not to let anyone see him, but I think that-"

"Well, if he doesn't want to talk to anyone, then maybe I should go," Lilly said quickly, gesturing toward the sidewalk.

"No!" Isabella screeched, grabbing Lilly's elbow. "You can't go! Jake hasn't come out of his room for two days! He won't play video games with me, he won't play dolls with me, he won't ride bikes with me, he won't swim with me or nothing!" Lilly watched sadly as the Isabella's already wide eyes got wider and watery. "Its scary, Lilly," she said quietly. "I want my big brother back."

Lilly stared at the little girl in front of her. How could she leave? With a smile, she took Isabella's hand and said, "Let's go get him back."

Isabella grinned and pulled Lilly up the stairs. When they reached the top, Isabella pointed to a closed door with a 'Zombie High' poster on it and let go of Lilly's hand. "Thank you," she whispered before descending down the stairs.

Lilly cautiously stepped toward the door and knocked quietly. When there was no response, she cracked the door and called, "Jake? Are you awake?"

There was, again, no response, so Lilly stepped in, quietly shutting the door behind her. The room was eerily silent and it was so dark that Lilly had to squint to make out the lump that was Jake's body on the bed.

"Hi, Jake," she said, unsure of what was the appropriate thing to say.

Jake remained unmoving.

"It's Lilly," she said, then quickly shook her head. "Sorry, I bet you knew that… we've only known each other for like five years…" She let out a nervous giggle.

She sighed, Jake still hadn't moved.

"So," she said, clasping her hands together nervously, "How are you?"

She cringed.

"That was a stupid question. I know how you are. And I'm sorry."

She saw his arm shift slightly, but he still remained silent.

"I just… I wanted you to know that I'm sorry." She felt her eyes begin to tear for what seemed like the billionth time in the past two days. "I'm so sorry, Jake. You and Miley were so perfect together."

She paused and waited for a reaction. She heard a sob, but he still chose not to speak.

"I know you loved her, Jake… a lot. It was so obvious. And I know that she knew that you loved her, and that she cared about you more than she cared about anyone else in the world."

She paused again, hoping that maybe he would finally respond, but he didn't. With a deep sigh, she began to back toward the door. "I came over here because I figured you'd want someone to talk to, but I guess you don't want to talk at all."

She placed her hand on the doorknob, but before she left the room she turned around and said quietly, "She would want you to be happy, Jake. I know she would. She wouldn't want you to be like this, holed up in your room, refusing to speak to anyone. She'd want you to be the same Jake you were before she… d… d-died."

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she began to leave the room.

"I…" Jake croaked from his bed, "I just miss her so much, Lilly."

Lilly reentered the room and sat on the edge of Jake's bed, outstretching her arms. He immediately collapsed into them, sobbing. "I thought we'd be together forever," he wept, his head on her shoulder. "I know that's stupid, since we're only seventeen, but somehow, I just knew it was her that I was meant to be with."

"I know," Lilly whispered. "It's not stupid at all."

"I don't know what to do with myself," he murmured as Lilly rubbed his back. "For five years, I've pretty much depended on her and _only _her. And all of a sudden she's gone…"

"I know it's hard," Lilly said. "But Miley Stewart would want us celebrating her life, not mourning her death. She was the happiest girl I know, and I think the only way to show proper respect to her is to make sure _we're _happy."

"You're right," Jake said, calming down slightly and sitting up. "I'm just not sure how… we were 'Jake and Miley' for so long, I'm just not sure how to be 'just Jake.'"

"It's hard for me too," Lilly soothed, squeezing his hand. "Even though we didn't get to talk very often, I still felt like Miley was my only friend. I know how you feel."

"Well, what do you think she would want us to do?" Jake asked with a quiet sigh.

"Well, for starters," Lilly said, laughing slightly through her tears, "I don't think being complete and total loner losers is going to help."

Jake smiled somewhat also, the first genuine smile he had smiled in days. "I don't think so, either. Lilly Truscott, let's be friends!"

Lilly giggled. "That sounds like a bad Barney episode!"

And then they were chuckling.

And then they were laughing.

And then they were in fits of laughter that wouldn't stop.

And it felt good.

And although it seemed an incredibly cheesy thing to think, Lilly couldn't help but feel that Miley Stewart was smiling in heaven.

**A/N: **I hope you liked it! And just in case you were wondering, this is definitely not going to be a Lilly/Jake fic, I just want them to be friends, so that's all that that is. And a big thanks to my reviewers: **Miley and Lily Like, AlwaysxAddicted, Cherry-Star23, Valx3, TifferlouLuvsU, briana35805, lilerin91, Spencer-Sweetie, Forever-charmed14, **and** MitchelMussoIsHot** (I totally agree.)

I'll update as soon as I can, but in the mean time, REVIEW! (Reviews inspire quicker updates… ;) )


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Okay, this update only took _forever. _I'm really sorry about that, but I've been super busy! The good news is: something eventful happens in this chapter! So, I won't keep you any more… READ!

"This is so unfair," Olivia Oken huffed as she shuffled out the door, a suitcase in each hand. "All my life I've dreamt of having the house to myself!"

Oliver half-smiled and shrugged. "Sorry," he muttered, as Otto and Omar followed her out of the Oken house.

"Now, Olivia," Mrs. Oken chastised through the open front door, her arm resting loosely around Oliver's shoulders, "It isn't very fair to be mad at your brother. Its not _his _fault his algebra teacher assigned so much homework this weekend."

She squeezed Oliver's shoulder knowingly as Olivia rolled her eyes and slid into back of the mini-van. Mrs. Oken placed both hands on Oliver's shoulders and turned to face him, smiling encouragingly. Oliver sighed and tried to smile back. Besides the Ryans, the Stewarts, Lilly, and Oliver, Mrs. Oken was the only one who knew that when Hannah Montana died, Miley Stewart died as well. Knowing how crushed Oliver was, she had planned an Oken family road trip over a three-day weekend and kindly left Oliver out of it.

"We'll be back late Monday night," she said, her encouraging smile never leaving her face. "If you need anything, just call."

He sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I know," he said.

She kissed his forehead gently and wrapped her arms around him for a quick hug. "Try not to have too much fun," she joked quietly as she headed toward the car. "I love you."

Oliver pursed his lips and waved. "I love you too," he said as she slid into the driver's seat. "And thanks…"

He shut the front door and twisted the lock.

All his life he had dreamed of having the house completely and totally to himself. He fantasized about the gorgeous girls he would have over, the major amounts of alcohol he would consume, and the killer parties he would throw. And now, the house was his. He had the power to do whatever he wanted.

He never even thought about reaching for the phone to plan that killer party. Instead, he headed up the stairs and into his room, burying himself in the covers.

He fell asleep and when his cell phone started ringing he wasn't sure how much time had passed. "Hello?" he muttered groggily.

When he heard the voice on the other end, he suddenly wished he hadn't answered.

"Hi!" Ava squealed.

Oliver sighed. "What do you need?"

"Um, hello? I'm your girlfriend, remember? I think I'm allowed to call you just to talk…"

"Yes," Oliver said through clenched teeth, "You are _allowed, _but since you never call unless you want something I'm naturally going to assume that this call is the same."

"Listen, since you're in such a bad mood, I'm going to cut to the chase-"

Oliver rolled his eyes.

"I'm having a party."

"Okay," Oliver said. "When?"

"Tonight," Ava said, a hint of satisfaction in her voice. "At your house."

Oliver's eyes almost fell out of their sockets. "Excuse me?"

"Tonight at your house!" she repeated, her voice sounding slightly exasperated.

"Ava!" Oliver yelled. "No!"

"Come on, Oliver, I've already invited everyone over!"

"No," Oliver repeated, a little more firmly. "No way."

"Oliver, even if I say no party, people are still going to show up. It'd be a waste of your time to cancel it."

Oliver sighed.

"Is that a yes?" Ava squeaked from the other line.

"Fine," Oliver replied in surrender.

"Oh, this is so great, Ollie!" Ava squealed as Oliver cringed at the use of the nickname. It always bothered him when Ava called him that. Somehow, however, if it were Lilly squealing a stupid nickname at him, Oliver didn't think he would mind.

He sighed. "What time?"

"Well, people are coming over at like eight or something, so me and Amber and Ashley and Abigail are going to get there at like seven. It's going to be so much fun, Ollie! I'm so excited."

"Well, that's nice," Oliver replied dryly. "I'll see you at seven."

---

"Ollllliiiiiver, come dance with me," Ava whined, plopping herself on Oliver's lap.

The party had been raging for over two hours and, though it had gotten slightly out of hand, Oliver remained seated in his dad's La-Z-Boy, a beer in his right hand.

He pressed the bottle to his lips and took a long sip. "I'm good, thanks."

"Puh-lease," she sighed, fiddling with the charm on her necklace. "This is embarrassing," she added in a low whisper.

"I don't want to, Ava," Oliver replied, running a hand through his head of shaggy brown hair.

"You haven't danced with me all night, Oliver," Ava pouted, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Let's keep it that way," Oliver replied, gulping down another sip of beer. He knew he was being obviously mean to Ava, but he couldn't help it. The more she talked, the meaner he became.

"Oliver!" she squealed, and then glancing around the room, she quickly lowered her voice. "Ollie, you're embarrassing me!"

"Good," Oliver said.

"What is your problem?" she hissed, her teeth clenched. "Everyone is watching."

"Whatever," Oliver replied, rolling his eyes. In all truth, _no one _was watching. Out of the small amount of people in the room, two were in a mad make-out session, four were engrossed with the keg, and, though one guy's eyes did seem to be focused on Oliver and Ava, Oliver saw that he was drinking his eighth beer of the night, so even if he was watching, it was highly unlikely that he would remember it in the morning.

"Whatever?!" Ava squeaked, throwing her hands into the air. "Oliver Oken, what is your problem?"

"Currently," Oliver said, feeling particularly snappish, "You're my problem."

Ava's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as Oliver nonchalantly set his half-empty beer bottle down on the end table and began to stand up. Ava, who was still on his lap, stumbled backward when he stood.

"I need some air," Oliver muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and shuffling out of the room.

Ava quickly wiped the shocked expression off her face and let out a nervous laugh as she glanced hastily at the other people in the room. "All right, then, sweetie!" she yelled after Oliver's disappearing figure. "I'll be out in a minute!" When she was sure no one was looking, she grimaced, muttering, "Most people are more fun when they're drunk."

---

Oliver stepped outside and immediately felt a cool breeze against his face. He sighed, sitting on his front step and resting his forehead in his hands. "Miley," he whispered croakily as he raised his eyes to the sky. "I'm sorry. All you wanted was for all of us to be friends… and we couldn't do it."

His big brown eyes scanned the street as apologies poured out of his mouth. Almost instantly, his gaze settled on the house on the corner of the street. It was the biggest one in the neighborhood, by far. It was completely dark, except for a single light on the second floor. Squinting his eyes, Oliver saw that a small figure sat alone in the lit room. And immediately Oliver knew what he had to do.

Standing up, he took off down the street. He ran faster and faster until finally he was standing in the yard. Picking up a rock from the yard, he furiously chunked it at the window, missing it by at least a foot. He quickly picked up another rock and threw it, this time only missing the window slightly. As he was picking up his third rock, her head jerked around. Her eyes narrowed and for a second Oliver thought she was going to completely ignore him. After a moment, however, she motioned for him to go to the front door.

Sighing with relief, Oliver jogged toward the front door, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. After a moment of waiting, she opened it. "What do you want?" she said accusingly before Oliver had the chance to speak.

"I'm sorry, Lilly," Oliver said quickly, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "What I did to you, it was terrible. And I'm sorry for it. I never meant for any of this to happen."

Lilly sighed and stepped onto the porch, shutting the front door behind her. "I-" she began, but Oliver held his hand up and continued.

"That night, when you came to Ashley's house, you were right about everything. I didn't go to Ashley's house because I thought it was going to be the beginning of some great, loving relationship. I went because Ashley was popular and I wanted to be popular, too! That seems so incredibly stupid, but I just wanted to know what it was like."

Lilly shook her head. "Well, now you know."

"You're right," Oliver said. "I _do _know. And I hate it."

"You seem pretty happy to me," Lilly mumbled, staring at the ground.

"Well, I'm not, Lilly!" Oliver said exasperatedly, throwing his hands into the air. "I'm not happy at all!"

"So for _two whole years _you've known all this and you've just decided to voice it at this particular point in time?" Lilly said sarcastically, throwing a hand onto her hip. "Because really, Oken, that seems a little far-fetched to me."

"I wanted to believe I was happy, Lilly," Oliver sighed, sitting down on the porch steps. "After what I did to you, I wanted to believe it was all worth it." He turned slowly and locked his brown eyes with her gray ones. "It wasn't," he whispered.

Lilly gulped. "I," she began, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. "I want to believe you… I just don't know if I'm ready to forgive you."

Oliver nodded solemnly, turning to face the opposite direction. "I understand," he said. He stood up slowly and began to walk through the Truscotts' front lawn. He stopped midway and turned around. "I wish I could go back, Lilly," he said. "Because you and Miley were the best friends I ever had."

Lilly smiled through her tears and nodded. "Thanks," she whispered shakily.

Oliver nodded and turned back around to leave.

"Oliver?" he heard. He turned back around.

"Yeah?"

Lilly took a deep breath. "I forgive you," she said softly.

**A/N: **I hope you liked it! Thanks so much to my reviewers (whose names I do not have the strength to type out right now) and please review again!


	6. Chapter 6

"I wish I could go back, Lilly," Oliver said, his deep, brown eyes pleading forgiveness as he focused intently on the petite blonde in front of him. "Because you and Miley were the best friends I ever had."

Tears fell freely down Lilly's pale face and she smiled, bringing a shaky hand up to her cheek to wipe away the smeared mascara. "Thank you," she said softly, pulling her jacket tightly around her body.

He silently begged her forgiveness once more before sighing deeply and turning around, trudging back toward his house.

"Oliver?" Lilly said, so quietly that when Oliver heard her say it, he thought it was a figment of his imagination.

He turned around nonetheless, closing his eyes and bracing himself for whatever insult or comeback she was planning on throwing his way. "Yeah?" he breathed quietly.

He heard her take a long, deep breath. "I forgive you," she said softly.

His eyes popped open. "Wh-What?" he stammered, taking a step closer to the porch on which Lilly stood.

Lilly smiled slightly through her tears, pushing her matted blonde hair away from her face. "I _forgive _you," she repeated, a little louder.

Oliver stared at her for a moment, as if he was waiting for her to laugh and yell "I'm just kidding, ya donut!" but she never did. She just stood on her front porch, hugging her light jacket tightly to her body, smiling, even though tears were rolling down her cheeks.

He shook his head. "Are you sure?"

She laughed, moving down the steps onto her lawn. She moved close to him and brushed the shaggy, brown hair out of his eyes. "Positive."

He grinned triumphantly, pumping a fist into the air and screaming a loud 'whoop!' Lilly laughed again and wiped her cheeks hastily.

Oliver opened his arms wide and she flung herself into them, burying her head in his shoulder. A victorious smile on his face, he placed one hand on the small of her back and tangled the other in her golden hair.

"I've missed you, so much, Lils," he murmured quietly into her ear.

She closed her eyes, pulling him closer to her. "I've missed you, too, Ollie."

And when she used the nickname he hated so much, he _loved _it, just because the words were coming out of _her_ mouth.

She pulled away from him, suddenly, as a grin swept across her face. "Wait here!" she squealed, sprinting back into her house. Oliver knitted his eyebrows, but stood still, nonetheless, until Lilly reemerged from her house, her hands full with a tray and two overflowing glasses.

"What are you doing?" Oliver asked, rushing over to her and saving a glass of, what he now saw was milk, just before she dropped it.

"Right before you came over," she said nonchalantly, setting the tray and glass on the porch before sitting on the stair, "I took these out of the oven." She gestured at the tray sitting next to her.

He sat down on the other side of the tray and looked at it. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Are these…" he said, grinning as he gently lifted one from the tray.

"Yup," Lilly replied, an equally large grin on her face, "Chocolate marshmallow brownie batter cookies."

"Also known as: the greatest food ever to touch the earth!"

"And to think," Lilly said, taking a large bite out of a cookie, "We were a mere eight-years-old when we invented them!"

"I haven't had one of these since… since, well… you know. I forgot how amazing they were."

"Oliver Oken," Lilly said in mock horror, placing a hand upon her chest. "Did you apologize to me just for my delicious cookies?"

Oliver laughed. "You know," he said. "Ava baked me like twelve batches of cookies on my birthday."

Lilly took a sip of milk and smiled uncomfortably. "Well, that was nice of her," she murmured.

"Yeah," Oliver sighed, "Except they were peanut butter and I'm-"

"Allergic," Lilly finished, nodding. "It was a nice idea, though."

"Mmhmm," Oliver said, leaning back to rest on his elbows.

"You seem… happy with her."

Oliver laughed. "Nope," he said.

"Oh," Lilly said quietly.

There was a silence. Lilly repositioned herself so that the tray of cookies was no longer in between she and Oliver. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she whispered, "I'm glad we're friends again."

He put an arm around her shoulder, and replied, "I'm glad we are, too."

"You don't understand how lonely I was, Oliver," Lilly said, resting her head on his shoulder as she laced her fingers with his. "I didn't realize how much I depended on you and Miley. And my parents weren't even around to tell me it would be okay. It's just been me for the past two years."

"I'm so sorry, Lilly," Oliver said, rubbing his thumb over her fingers. "If it helps at all, I've been lonely, too."

Lilly nudged him playfully as a smile played on her lips. "Come on," she said. "Mr. Popularity? Lonely?"

"I'm being serious," he said in mock offense. Then, his tone becoming more serious, he said, "It's like the opposite of how you felt. Because people were always around me, but they were never people that I felt knew me or wanted to _get _to know me."

Lilly sighed. "Let's just not do this whole fight for two years thing again," she said.

"Deal," Oliver said, and then with a smirk, he added, "Next time, we'll fight for three."

Lilly laughed and pulled herself closer to him.

Suddenly, a shriek came from across the lawn. Lilly's head snapped up and she met the eyes of a very angry Ava.

"_What _is going on here?" Ava squealed, clomping across the Truscott's front lawn. Lilly jerked herself away from Oliver, clasping her hands nervously and staring at the ground.

"Go away, Ava," Oliver sighed, running a hand through his hair and rolling his eyes.

"Don't tell me to 'go away' Oliver," Ava seethed, one hand thrown on her hip, the other pointing a finger at her boyfriend. "I'll do what I want."

"And I'll do what I want," Oliver replied, taking Lilly's hand in his again.

"Oliver," Lilly whispered through clenched teeth. "Don't cause a scene."

"I can't believe you would ditch me at a party for someone as pathetic as Lilly Truscott!" Ava huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. "I mean seriously, Oliver, just because she _has _no friends doesn't mean you have to pretend like you like her or something. She's such a freak."

Oliver looked at Lilly, whose eyes were still fixated on the ground. A tear escaped one of her eyes as her grip on Oliver's hand got tighter and tighter.

"You have no right to talk like that, Ava," Oliver said, narrowing his eyes. "Just go back to the party and have another beer or something."

"What is your problem?" Ava squealed, her eyes practically burning holes into Lilly's skulls. "First, you hang all over him in the hallways and then, you like molest him during his party. Why are you so obsessed with my boyfriend?"

"Why are you so obsessed with being a bitch?" Oliver yelled, standing up and pulling Lilly with him. "She's never done anything to you, Ava."

Ava stepped back, shocked at Oliver's defense of Lilly.

"All you ever do is put people down and I'm tired of it. It's over, Ava. Go back to the party."

She stared at him for a moment before she turned on her heel and stomped off.

Lilly turned to face Oliver. "You didn't have to do that," she said softly, looking at her feet.

"Yeah, I did," Oliver replied. "Everything I said was the truth."

She looked up, her silver eyes meeting with his chocolate brown ones. She searched his eyes for some sort of hint that he was kidding, that he wouldn't want to talk to her when they went back to school, that this whole night had been a dream, but all she saw in them was sincerity and kindness.

"Thank you," she whispered, placing a hand on her shoulders and kissing him softly on the cheek. "Thank you, very much."


	7. Chapter 7

"_And now E! News brings you more information on the constantly changing mystery behind the death of teen pop princess, Hannah Montana. As E! has recently been informed, when Hannah Montana died on Friday morning, Miley Stewart, a simple, unknown high school student in Malibu died as well." _

_Ryan Seacrest focused his gaze on a TV screen in the studio. Miley's Aunt Dolly stood behind a podium, her eyes focused on a set of notes in front of her. "In a press conference today, Miley's aunt spoke about the matter." _

"_Miley wanted to lead a normal life," Dolly said, glancing up quickly from her notes. "She hated the idea that because she was a celebrity, she would never get to go to school or play on a volleyball team or be a normal teenager. She, with the support of her family, thought that the best thing to do would be to adopt a second identity when she was singing. She chose to be Hannah Montana."_

"_Miley was the sweetest girl," Dolly continued, tears brimming in her eyes. "She certainly got the 'Best of Both Worlds.'"_

_Ryan looked at the camera seriously. "Miley Stewart's funeral will be held in Malibu today at 3 p.m. It will be a joint service, also honoring her brother, Jackson, and father, Robbie Ray." _

---

"Dammit," Oliver muttered, dropping his tie in frustration. He had been attempting to tie it for at least fifteen minutes. He sighed and flopped on the bed, rubbing his temples. "Dammit, dammit, dammit."

"Don't let Ophelia hear you using the 'devil's language,'" a voice said softly from the doorway. Oliver shifted slightly and met eyes with Olympia, his fourteen-year-old sister. "Can I come in?" she asked quietly, tugging at her shirt. Oliver nodded and patted the bed next to him. Oliver was quite fond of all of his siblings, but if he had to pick a favorite, Olympia would win without contest.

She lay down beside him. For a moment, they just laid there, side by side. This was one of the reasons Oliver felt so close to Olympia; it was like she knew what he was thinking before he even said a word. After awhile, she laced her fingers through his and turned her head so that she was looking at him. "It's going to be fine," she said, giving him a reassuring smile.

Oliver nodded absentmindedly, his gaze focused on the ceiling.

"I'm serious, Oliver," she said, squeezing his hand. "Everything is going to be alright."

He shrugged. "I don't know," he said, his voice cracking slightly as a knot formed in his throat. "I feel like I'm not sure of anything anymore."

"I'm not sure if I believe this," Olympia said, fixing her gaze on the ceiling again, "But I hear people say it all the time: everything happens for a reason. Maybe… maybe had Miley had done what she was put here to do… maybe… she served her purpose."

"Seventeen is to young to die, Olympia, even if you have 'served your purpose.'"

"You're right," Olympia nodded, sitting up, but keeping a firm grip on her brother's hand. "Seventeen is too young to die… but it happened… she's… gone. And now all we have are her memories. Miley was an amazing person… let's focus on how much good she did for all of us and forget the unfairness of the whole situation."

Oliver nodded gravely, wiping his now tearstained cheeks hastily with his free hand. "I… I just wish…"

"What?" Olympia whispered, running her thumb over her brother's knuckles.

"This sounds stupid…" Oliver said, shaking his head, "But when we were thirteen, me, Miley, and Lilly promised that we'd be friends forever. But I ruined everything and now… it's too late," he finished, barely audible.

Olympia shook her head. "It's not too late!" she protested. "You know Miley would have forgiven you for… whatever you did in a heartbeat. Just apologize and everything will be fine… you already have Lilly back."

Oliver nodded and took a deep breath before asking, "Can I ask you one more thing?"

Olympia smiled. "Anything."

"Will you help me tie my tie?"

---

Lilly gave herself a long once-over in the mirror.

Her shoulder-length blonde hair was pulled back into a bun so tightly that Lilly was sure a vein in her forehead was going to burst at any given moment. Her bangs were bobby pinned out of her face, digging into her head. She wore a simple, black, sleeveless dress with a high neckline that hit just below the knees and her patent-leather Mary Janes were slowly cutting off the circulation in her feet.

"I look ridiculous," she muttered, tugging at the hem of her dress. It was true. She spun around to get the back view… it was no better.

She cocked her head to the side (which was painful.) "You're supposed to look ridiculous at a funeral, right? Depressed… just like how you feel."

Her eyes wandered around the room and landed on a string of pictures on her nightstand. They had been taken in a booth at the carnival when Lilly, Miley, and Oliver were twelve. In the first picture, they were all sticking their tongues out at the camera. In the second, Miley and Lilly were kissing Oliver on either cheek. In the third, Oliver was making a ridiculous face and Miley and Lilly were laughing. And in the final picture, their arms were wrapped around each other, huge grins on their faces.

Lilly turned her focus back toward the mirror and narrowed her eyes.

"Miley hated black."

---

"Miley Stewart was a wonderful girl," Jake began, shuffling through his note cards. "She was very happy. She liked to be around people. She was charitable." He shook his head and dropped the cards on his dresser.

"That sounds good," his father said from the doorway.

Jake rolled his eyes and flopped onto a black beanbag chair. "It sounds retarded."

His father entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "You're going to do great, Jake."

Jake shook his head. "I don't know… I don't know if I can do this, Dad."

"You can," Mr. Ryan said reassuringly, giving his son an encouraging smile and nod.

"I don't think so," Jake said, shaking his head again.

"I know you can," Mr. Ryan repeated, a little more forcefully. "Miley would have wanted you to do this, Jake," he added, a little gentler.

"I know," Jake said softly, looking at the floor. "That what makes me so nervous. I want to do her justice, I want to tell everyone what an _amazing _person she was, how she could instantly cheer anyone up, how her smile lit up the room, how she was always there when you needed her, how she would listen and listen to you whine, but never complain, how beautiful she was, how talented she was, how funny she was, how nice she was… how much I loved her." He paused, glancing at his father. "But how am I supposed to say it?"

His father smiled, standing up and ruffling his hair. "Just like that."

**A/N: **So I'm sorry I didn't update for like, a billion years, but things have been really crazy (not to mention I've had a severe case of writer's block with this story.) But it's almost summer (two weeks!) and I think I know where I want to go with this story now, so I should be updating (hopefully) a little more often. Please review, though, it keeps me updating sooner! ;)

A huge thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter (I don't have time to list everyone individually, but I love you all individually!)


	8. Chapter 8

"Let's go sit down," Olympia Oken said, her grip tightening on her older brother's elbow as the family maneuvered their way through the extremely crowded church lobby. Oliver shook his head. "You go ahead," he said, shaking her off of his elbow. "I'm going to wait out here for Lilly."

Olympia smiled and nodded knowingly. "Alright," she said, ushering her siblings into the sanctuary. "Should I save you a seat?"

Oliver shook his head again. "Lilly and I will find a seat in the back or something… she's always late." Olympia nodded once more, disappearing into the crowd.

Oliver adjusted his tie, glancing around the crowd for a mass of frosty blonde hair. He twiddled his thumbs. He wiped some sweat off of his forehead. He adjusted his tie again. He twiddled his thumbs again. And then, he saw her.

"Oh my god," he muttered, laughing quietly. "Only Lilly."

Suddenly, she saw him. She waved, pushing her way through the crowd. Her frosty blonde hair fell to her shoulders in natural, beachy waves. Her eyes were lined with bright blue liner and purple eye shadow dusted her lids. Her knee-length dress was hot pink and her shoes were lime green. She looked ridiculous, and yet perfect at the same time.

"Lilly," he laughed softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Lilly, what are you wearing?"

She half-smiled, giving a little spin. "I dressed for Miley: bright and happy."

Oliver grinned. "You did a great job," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "She'd be proud."

Lilly rested her head on his shoulder. "Thanks," she said softly. "I'd like to think that she would be."

The stood motionless for a moment before Oliver took a deep breath. "Shall we?" he asked, gesturing toward the entrance to the sanctuary.

Lilly mimicked his deep breath. "I… Yes," she said hesitantly, lacing her fingers through Oliver's. "Let's go in."

As they made their way through the door, a voice called to them from behind. "Lilly! Oliver!"

"Jake," Lilly said, running to him and embracing him in a hug. "How are you?"

He shrugged. "I'm okay," he said softly, "I'm glad you came to talk to me."

Lilly smiled. "Are you… are you going to speak?" she asked, glancing at the note cards in Jake's sweaty palms.

He nodded, stuffing the cards into his pockets. "At least I'm going to attempt to," he said. "I'm not sure if I can do her justice."

"You'll do her better justice than anyone," Oliver reassured, patting Jake's shoulder.

Jake smiled. "Thanks. Listen," he said, "I have to walk in with Miley's family and sit at the front. I… I'm nervous. I don't want to walk down there alone. Will… will you…" he trailed off, tentatively glancing at both Lilly and Oliver.

Lilly nodded reassuringly. "We'll walk with you, Jake," she said, "If that's what you want."

He nodded again. "It's what I want."

The group walked toward the entrance of the sanctuary. The crowd in the lobby had dwindled, and now only Miley's family remained. "What a Friend We Have In Jesus" began to play inside and Lilly laced her fingers with Oliver's. She heard Jake take a deep, unsteady breath. She placed her other hand in his.

"Are you ready?" she whispered, her teary eyes focused and determined.

"I'm ready," the two on either side of her chorused.

They walked down the aisle slowly, their eyes fixed ahead of them. It was almost as if they were to make eye contact with anyone, they would lose all control, collapse in the middle of the church. They slid into the pew and sat down slowly.

"We are gathered here today," the preacher said, staring into the crowd, "To mourn the loss of three beautiful people: Robbie, Jackson, and Miley Stewart."

Tears flowed freely as hymns were sung, Bible verses were read, and beautiful words were spoken. Finally, the preacher said, "We would now like to invite Mr. Jake Ryan to say a few words."

Jake stood up nervously. He had never been nervous in his life. In fact, when he had auditioned for "Zombie High", he walked directly into the producer's office and said, "Look, mister, I don't know why you're even bothering seeing all these other kids. _I'm _the kid you're going to hire!" He had attended countless movie premieres, awards ceremonies, and walked down many red carpets with ease, but now, as he walked up the stairs and placed his note cards on the podium, he felt like he was going to faint.

"M-My name is Jake Ryan," he said softly, adjusting the microphone to suit his height. "Miley Stewart was m-my girlfriend." He looked up, and saw several people whisper and point at him. "We…we were together for f-five years. Which is a long time." Someone coughed and Jake's eyes snapped up again. He met eye contact with Oliver, who nodded solemnly, and then Lilly, who smiled at him through her tears. He took a deep breath. "And I loved her," he said, tears escaping the corners of his eyes, his voice cracking. "I loved her a lot." He heard several people cry. He turned his note cards over and disregarded them. "Miley Stewart was amazing. She was always trying to figure out a way she could help someone. She never thought of herself. She listened to me whine and complain about the _tiring _celebrity life I had to lead, and never once reminded me that she lived the _same _celebrity life, plus another. She was smart and funny. And very obviously talented," he gestured toward a poster of Hannah Montana. "She had everything going for her… and now she's gone." He took a deep breath, wiping his blotchy, tearstained cheeks. "I don't think that I will ever 'get over' Miley Stewart," he said. "But I know that I'm going to go on, living my life, being happy, and being the best person I can be, because if there's one thing I learned from Miley, it's to be thankful for what I have and take nothing for granted."

**A/N: **Sorry, I don't have much time to write a note, and I'm sorry if this chapter is a little rushed, but its an update! Review, please!


	9. Chapter 9

"Hi," Oliver said quietly, placing a hand on Lilly's shoulder as he came up beside her. The crowd had moved from the church to the cemetery, where Robbie's, Jackson's, and Miley's coffins sat in a neat row. Oliver shuddered and quickly averted his gaze. Lilly's eyes, however, had not left the coffins since Oliver had joined her. Her face was pale and she remained motionless.

"Are you alright?" Oliver asked, sliding his arm around Lilly's shoulders. Lilly stayed still, her eyes still focused on the coffins. He slowly moved his hand up and down her arm. "It's going to be okay, Lilly," Oliver said softly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "All of this is going to pass. We're going to get through this." She nodded, but kept her gaze fixed on the coffins. "We're going to get through this," Oliver repeated, almost as if he were reassuring himself.

Suddenly, Lilly stepped away from Oliver, shaking his arm off of her. She took a sharp intake of breath and looked up at him. He stared back, puzzled, and she shook her head furiously. "I have to go," she said frantically, "I can't do this. I can't do this, I have to go." And with that, she took off. Glancing back only once, she disappeared in the crowd.

"Where's she going?" Oliver heard Jake ask from behind him, but Oliver didn't answer. He had taken off into the crowd, pushing his way through the crowd, searching for her head of frosty blonde hair.

"Lilly, where are you?" he muttered, reaching the sidewalk. Oliver sighed, his head darting back and forth as he decided which way to go. Weighing his options, he headed toward the beach.

"Come on," he said as his feet hit the sand. He frantically searched for Lilly, but only saw two surfers and a young family. "Come on, Lilly," he said, turning around. And then, there she was, in a place he hadn't thought of. Across the street, Oliver saw Lilly standing on the sidewalk leading to the Stewart's house.

"Lilly!" he cried, desperately waving his hand in the air as he began to run across the street. She turned at the sound of her name, but turned back around and continued briskly up the sidewalk when her eyes met Oliver's.

"Lilly, wait!" he called, gradually catching up with her. "Lilly," he said, grabbing her elbow and spinning her to face him. "Lilly, why did you leave? What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it," she said, jerking her elbow away from him.

"Come on, Lilly," Oliver said, gently placing his hands on her shoulders. "You can tell me anything."

Lilly shook her head again. "No," she said firmly. "No, I don't want to talk about it."

"I'll apologize again, Lilly!" Oliver yelled, throwing his arms into the air in frustration. "I thought we were friends again, but if you're not over it, I'm willing to do whatever it takes!"

Lilly sighed. "I feel like such an awful person," she whispered, hastily wiping a tear from her cheek.

"What are you talking about?" Oliver asked quietly.

"I'm talking about the fact that Miley is _dead _and all I'm worried about is _you!_" she yelled, letting out a sob.

"What?"

"My best friend is _dead_, Oliver. She's never coming back. I should be only thinking about her, only worrying about her, but instead, all I can think about is _you. _All I can think about is how glad I am we're friends again, how much I _like _you, how _scared _I am that once all of this is over, it'll go back to how things were." She trailed off queitly, her teary eyes staring at the ground.

"That's not true, Lilly," Oliver whispered, stepping closely to her and placing a finger under her chin, pushing her face up lightly.

"How do I know, Oliver?" Lilly said shakily, taking a step back. "How do I know that once everyone has moved on, you won't just go back to being Mr. Popularity?"

Oliver stepped closely to her until they're bodies were practically touching. He slowly placed one hand on the side of her face and the other on her waist. "Because I love you," he whispered, just before his lips met hers.

**A/N: **Can we say super short? Sorry about that. But it was also pretty exciting, if I do say so myself! Thanks so much for reviewing and please review again! (It makes me want to update faster!) Have a greaaaaaaaaat day!


	10. Chapter 10

"Wh-What?" Lilly gasped, stumbling backward. "What did you say?"

"I love you, Lilly. When Jake was talking about Miley, about how amazing she was, all I could think about was _you. _That's how I feel about _you, _Lilly." He sighed, running a hand through his shaggy brown hair.

Lilly took a deep breath. "We were best friends for a long time, Oliver, but then we barely spoke for two years. How can you know that now?"

"I just know, Lilly," he said, taking her hands into his. "I think… I think I've always been in love with you." He laughed. "Is it possible to fall in love when you're five?"

Lilly smirked. "Well, if it is, then our love is based on a sixty-four pack of crayons!"

"With a sharpener!" Oliver replied, bringing his lips down to hers again. Just seconds before they connected, he pulled away.

"Ow!" Lilly said, rubbing her nose, which had just made contact with Oliver's shoulder. "What was that for, ya donut?"

"You said 'our love,'" Oliver said, his eyes wide.

"What?" Lilly asked, her face scrunched in confusion.

"You said 'our love is based on a sixty-four pack of crayons.'" He cupped her face in his hands. "Lilly Truscott, do you think you might love me, too?"

She flushed, placing her hand on top of his. "I don't know, I-"

He cut her off by pressing his lips firmly onto hers. Her eyes fluttered shut as his hands moved down to her waist and hers linked around the back of his neck. A few moments later, he pulled away, pressing his forehead do hers.

She grinned. "I think I just might love you, too," she said softly. "And I think I might just know that for sure if you kept giving he kisses like that!"

He laughed, but obliged, placing his lips on hers once more.

They quickly pulled apart from each other when they heard someone clear their throat.

"Well, it's about time!" Jake laughed, his arms crossed across his chest.

"Jake," Lilly said, her hand on her heart and a blush on her cheeks. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the cemetery?"

He nodded and shrugged. "I couldn't take it," he said softly.

Lilly smiled and nodded knowingly. "Neither could we."

Jake sat down on the stairs of the patio and motioned for Lilly and Oliver to join him. "You know," Jake said as Lilly sat down next to him, "Miley always knew you two would end up together."

Lilly blushed as Oliver sat down next to her. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," Jake sighed, and smiled. "She'd always go 'That fight is just a speed bump on the highway of love.'" He imitated Miley's accent and the three laughed.

There was a long silence. Lilly sighed and leaned her head on Oliver's shoulder and laced her fingers through Jake's. "You want to know the one thing Miley wanted more than ever?" Jake asked quietly, staring at the beach.

"What?" Oliver asked, sliding his arm around Lilly's waist.

"She wanted you to be happy," he sighed, brushing some hair out of his face.

Lilly smiled and squeezed Jake's hand. "Promise me something," she whispered.

"Anything," Oliver said.

"Sure," Jake replied.

"Promise me that the three of us will be friends forever."

Oliver smiled and kissed her forehead. "I promise."

Jake squeezed her hand. "Of course."

---

_Miley sighed. "Promise me something."_

"_What?" Lilly asked, turning to face her friend._

"_Promise me that the three of us will be friends forever."_

_Lilly smiled. "Well, of course!"_

"_This is so cheesy," Oliver groaned, scratching his head._

_Lilly punched him in the shoulder. "Just do it!"_

_He rubbed his shoulder and reluctantly mumbled a quick "fine" and an "I promise." _

_Miley smiled. "Friends forever."_

**A/N: **Awwww, it's over! I hope you all liked it! Please review and tell me what you thought! I'll try to update 'Lovely' soon! ILY!


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